Wax Crocodile
Origin The Westcar Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian text that details five miraculous acts performed by priests and magicians, told as stories from the sons of King Khufu to entertain their father in court. The second story, "The Wax Crocodile," tells how Ubainer, the Chief Priest Lector to the Pharaoh Nebka was visited by the Pharaoh and his entourage on a pilgrimage to the Temple of Ptah. One of the Pharaoh's train, a handsome young man, and Ubainer's wife fell in love with each other during the stay. They would have secret meetings at dusk, and afterwards he would wash off in the nearby lake. Ubainer, through his butler, came to learn of this and was incensed. Charming a piece of wax in the shape of a crocodile, he bid his butler to throw it into the lake the next time his wife's lover was bathing. Once this was done, the figure grew into a massive crocodile, which captured the young man in its jaws and disappeared into the water. After a week of letting the crocodile toy with the boy, Ubainer met with the Pharaoh at the lake and showed him both his control of the creature and the barely alive youth hanging in the teeth. The Pharaoh, amazed at this, allowed the boy to be eaten and ordered Ubainer's wife burnt at the stake. The crocodile disappeared into the lake, never to be seen again. Until 1995. Burundi Among crocodiles, there are only two varieties that are actually big enough to kill a person; the saltwater crocodile and the Nile crocodile. The latter seems to be what this wax figure is modeled after, and though it's location since the Fourth Dynasty is unknown, it was at one point picked up by a descendant of Ubainer in it's inert form during the chaos in the First Burundian Genocide. Twenty years later, one of the members of the family discovered the wax's abilities and vengefully released it into Ruzizi River, commanding it to kill the Tutsi's in retaliation for their actions in the war. Obviously, the crocodile couldn't complete this order in it's entirety, and the Ubainer descendant was soon killed in the genocide. Without a commanding force, the crocodile wandered up and down the Ruzizi, killing sadistically aimlessly. It is estimated the crocodile killed over three hundred people in this time. Unsurprisingly attracting attention for both it's size and death toll, numerous attempts to capture or kill the beast all failed against it's artifact defenses. During this reign of scaly terror, herpetologist Patrice Faye studied it's habits, and affectionately named it Gustave. In 2002 she tried to capture Gustave, but the artifact was smart enough to knock out her underwater cameras and destroy the baited cage. It seemed like the artifact would just keep swimming forever, a white whale to even the Warehouse, until they stumbled upon reference to the wax crocodile in some old scrolls and suspected that it was responsible in early 2008. Locating the sister of the man who activated it in 1993, Artie was able to convince her to help him deactivate Gustave. Effects Once the wax effigy is placed in a pool of water, it grows into a twenty-foot long crocodile. Though it can be activated by anyone, it will only follow the orders of the last descendant of the priest Ubainer it heard. If that descendant is no longer alive, "Gustave" will hunt of its own volition - being only a representation of a crocodile, it does not need sustenance, and seemingly takes pleasure in making the victims suffer. If a descendant of Ubainer is near, Gustave will come when summoned, and will allow itself to be deactivated (being touched by the person). Category:Scalec Category:Artifact